Rural Resettlement in an Arid Frontier: Agricultural Development in Northwest India

Abstract

Agricultural development in under—utilized and marginal lands is often touted as one means of cornbatting problems of population growth where land is limited. Northwest India, and the Punjab in particular, is one notable example. Here, the last 100 years have witnessed a dramatic transformation from what was once considered waste land into some of India's most fertile and productive agricultural land. This development has occurred primarily through the construction of massive irrigation systems and associated rural resettlement. Resettlement has been in part spontaneous and in part planned through government established colonies.